Movies: Past, present and future

Around Town: 'Paper Moon' shines on downtown festival

May 24, 2012 | 6:00am

The Los Angeles Conservancy's Last Remaining Seats festival that showcases the historic movie palaces on Broadway in downtown L.A. returns this Wednesday with Peter Bogdanovich's 1973 comedy "Paper Moon." The movie, which stars Ryan O'Neal and his daughter Tatum, who won the supporting actress Oscar for the role, screens at the 1931 Los Angeles Theatre. Bogdanovich will be on hand to introduce the film.

Last Remaining Seats continues Wednesdays through June. Other features on tap include a 30th anniversary screening of "Tootise," June 6 at the 1926 Orpheum Theatre, and 1922's "Robin Hood," with Douglas Fairbanks, scheduled for June 27 at the Orpheum. http://www.laconservancy.org/remaining/2012.php

The UCLA Film and Television Archive's Wednesday programming at the Million Dollar Theater downtown features the archive's restoration of 1948's "The Red Shoes," Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Technicolor romantic drama set in the world of ballet. The series will go on hiatus in June and return in July. http://www.cinema.ucla.edu

The New Beverly Cinema ushers in Memorial Day weekend with a retrospective of films by iconoclastic director David Lynch, beginning Friday and Saturday with his first feature, the 1977 cult favorite "Eraserhead," followed by his Oscar-nominated 1980 drama "The Elephant Man," with Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt.

Scheduled for Sunday and Monday are his controversial 1986 thriller "Blue Velvet," with Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper and Laura Dern, and Lynch's only G-rated film, the 1999 "The Straight Story," starring Richard Farnsworth in his Oscar-nominated role as an elderly man who goes on an epic journey on a lawnmower.

Tuesday and Wednesday's offerings are 1997's "Lost Highway" with Bill Pullman and Robert Blake, and the award-winning 2001 noir "Mulholland Drive" with Naomi Watts and Laura Harring. http://newbevcinema.com

Steven Spielberg earned his second best director Oscar for his powerful 1998 World War II drama, "Saving Private Ryan," which screens Thursday evening at the American Cinematheque's Aero Theatre in honor of Memorial Day. Steven Jay Rubin, author of "Combat Films: American Realism, 1945-2010," will be signing copies and leading a discussion before the film with actor Adam Goldberg.

A new digitally restored print with eight minutes of never-before-seen footage of Richard Donner's 1978 blockbuster "Superman" soars into the Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre on Friday evening. Also screening is Richard Lester's "Superman II," which was released in Europe in 1980 and in the U.S. in 1981. http://www.americancinematheque.com

Two seminal Universal horror flicks directed by James Whale -- 1933's "The Invisible Man," which marked the film debut of Claude Rains, and 1935's "The Bride of Frankenstien" -- are set for LACMA's Tuesday matinee. http://www.lacma.org

Audrey Hepburn earned her second best actress Oscar nomination as the title character in "Sabrina," Billy Wilder's 1954 romantic comedy about two wealthy brothers (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) who fall for the daughter of the family's chauffeur. It screens Saturday evening at Cinespia's outdoor series at Hollywood Forever. http://www.cinespia.org

Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater presents "T.J. Miller's Hangover Matinee" Sunday morning with brunch on the patio, live entertainment, a screening of vintage shorts followed by W.C. Fields' 1940 comedy "The Bank Dick."

On tap for Wednesday evening is the latest installment of comic Doug Benson's "Movie Interruption." This time around, Benson and his friend wax comedic during a screening of this year's box office dud, "John Carter." http://www.cinefamily.org